Agricultural implement.



No. 740, 33. PATENTED OCT. 6, 1903..

J.DOWNING. AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT."

Arrmoflmn FILED DEC. 13, 1902.

' no MODEL. a 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

dezarnqysa s PETERS co moYo-u'ma, wAs-mamab. c.

PATENTQED OCT." 6, 190a,

No. 740,633. L V

' J, DOfWNING.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT. urmonmn nun mac. 1a, 1902. so MODEL. Mingus-SHEET 2.

TNE Nanny; PEIERS c0. momma" wnsumm'ou. a c.

, UNITED STATES Patented October 6, 4v

PATENT Orrrcs.

' AGBICULTURALIMRLEMENT.

srncrrrce'rron forming part of Letters PatentNo. 740,633, cante ns c, 1903.

flriginal application fi fi October 4, 1902,- senn No. 125,903. Divided aid this application filed December 13, 1902. serial reissues, (Nomadeh) w To all whom it incl/y concern;

Be it known that I; JACOB DOWN'ING, of

-Denver,'in the county of Ar'apahoe and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Agricultural Implements; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and' exact description thereof, reference being'had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification. 7 I

This invention is an improvement in agricultural implementssuch as mowers, 8 0."; and its object is to provide an automobile power -actuated mower the engine part of which can be utilized for heavy-draft purposes upon the farm for general work thereon.

The present application is a division of the application for Agricultural. implements, filed by me October 4, 1902, Serial No. 125,903; and the invention covered herein consists in the novel construction of the cuttingappa- ,ratus of the machine, whereby it is adapted erably constructed as described in my afore i said application, its side members converg' ing at front and being rigidly united to a'casting 14, beyond which the side members of the a machine are extended, as indicated at 5 for a purpose herein after explained. In this casting 14 is journaled a king-pin 13, which is rigidly connected with the front or steering axle 11, and thereby connects the same to the frame, the front wheels 12'being journaled on the ends of axle ll'in the ordinarymam' ner. Attached to axle 11 is a segment 15, which meshes with a pinion 16 on the lower end of a vertical shaft 17, suitably journaled on the main frame of the machine and having on its upper end a hand-wheel 18, by which it can be conveniently operated by the driver,

who has a seat upon a tank 32, supported on tank may be used as a water-tank. The rear end of the frame is supported on an axle 8, whichhas bearings in journ albloc-ks 7 guided in yokes 6, rigidly attached to the sides of the frame, springs 10 being interposed between the bearings 7 and the tops of the yokes 6, so as to cushion the frame upon the axle.

The axle 8 is rotatable in the bearings 7 and also rotatable in the hubs of the drivingwheels 9, as described in my said application. The wheels 9 are provided with sprockets 41 on their inner sides, which may be driven by sprocket-chains 42 from smaller sprockets 40 on a main driving-shaft 38,suitably journaled inthe frame in front of the wheels 9 and driven by means of pinions 39 and 27 from the shaft of engine 29. The engine may be of any .suitable construction, but is preferably adouble-cylinder steam-engine mounted upon the frame in advance of the rear axle and in rear of the water-tank 32 and supplied with steam from boiler 30 bypipe 31.

j A plow or series of plows or other implements may be suspended from themain frame, as indicated in the drawings and described in my aforesaid application. Where only one or two plows are used, they may be made adjustable laterally of the machine, so as to compensate or correct any tendency of the machine to turn sidewise, as it might when operating in very heavy soil, where the traction of the wheel on the plowed ground would be less than the traction of the wheel on the solid ground. v

To the forward extension 5 of theinain 'frameis attached the cutting apparatns,con-

sisting of a rectangular frame 44, which is of greater breadth than height and preferably broader than the extreme width of the machine. This frame is slightly inclined back ward, so that the cutting band or belt will op- I the frame in rear of the front axle, and which I r) Ll means. I preferably use a frictional drive consisting of the friction-pulley 49, (which is mounted on a driven shaft 45, suitably journaled in the frame below the upper run of the cutter,) and a friction-pulley 50, which is journaled on a stub-shaft 55, mounted on a slide 50 guided in ayoke 51, attached to the top bar of frame 44 and depressed by a spring 51", the tension of which is regulable by reason of a hand-screw 52, attached to the upper end of the yoke 51. By this means the endless cutter can be traveled at the desired speed without danger of breaking it if it should catch some non-yielding obstruction.

The shaft 45 extends rearwardly to a point adjacent to the shaft 38, where it is suitably journaled on the main frame and is provided with a small beveled pinion 54, meshing with alarge beveled gear 53 on shaft 38, so that the endless cutter is traveled over the pulleys 48 simultaneously with the bodily forward or backward movement of the main frame and cutting apparatus. If it is not desired to use the cutter, it can be readily removed from position by simply loosening the hand-screw 52, which will allow the cutter to be slipped from between the pulleys 49 and 50. The frame 44 may be braced in any suitable manner, as indicated by stays 46 of the drawings.

43 shows the operating-lever for reversing the engine, the mechanism for doin g which is old,and therefore is not shownin the drawings.

The operation of the apparatus may be briefly stated, as follows: A single plow or a number of plows, if desired may be suspended from the frame, as above explained, and when the machine reaches the point where it is desired to operate the plows are lowered into working position. In operating upon ground where there is a large growth of grass or weeds, such as is frequently found on prairie land, the cutter will clear the ground in advance of the plows and greatly facilitate the operation of the latter and the turning under and covering up of the vegetable growth. here it is desired to use the machinesimply for mowing, the plows can be omitted or may be lifted out of operative position. It is obvious that both the plows and the cutter may be thrown out of operation, and the machine could then be used as a draft-engine for hauling heavy loads on the farm and as a generalutility draft-machine.

While I have illustrated in the drawings a plow connected to the main frame, in practice other farming implements, such as a harrow or pulverizer, may be used either with or as a substitute for the plow, and these or some other heavy implement could be raised and lowered in position, like the plow, at the will of the operator, by means of the lever 28.

It is not essential in every case that the cutting apparatus should be attached to the traction-machine shown as, of course the cutting apparatus on the front end of the frame could be attached to other automobiles or traction-engines. The combination of the cutting apparatus and plows, &c.,in a single machine, however, renders the latter of more value to the farmer, particularly on prairie lands. It is also obvious that the cutting apparatus could be employed on a machine-frame propelled by animal-power.

Having thus described my invention, what I therefore claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent thereon, is

1. The combination with the main frame, and mechanism for propelling it; with acut ting apparatus attached to the main frame in advance of the steering-wheels, consisting of arectangular frame, an endless cutter running around said frame, a pair of pulleys for driving said endless cutter engaging the upper run thereof, one of said pulleys being movable toward or from the other, and means for rotating said pulleys from the driving mechanism of the machine, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the main frame, and mechanism for propelling it, with a cutting apparatus attached to the mainframe in advance of the steering-wheels, consisting of a rectangular frame, guide-pulleys at the corners of said frame, an endless cutter running over said pulleys, a pair of frictional pulleys for driving said endless cutter engaging the upper run thereof, one of said pulleys being movable toward or from the other, and means for rotating said pulleys from the driving mechanism of the machine.

3. The combination of the main frame, a rectangular cutter-frame of greater width than the main frame attached to the front thereof, the flanged guide-pulleys journaled on said cutter-frame, an endless cutter passing around the pulleys, a fixed friction-pulpulleys journaled at the corners of said cutter-frame, an endless cutter passing around said pulleys, a fixed friction-pulley, and a movable friction-pulley engaging the upper run of the endless cutter, a shaft carrying the fixed friction-pulley, and gearing for driving said shaft-from the power-shaft of the machine, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the main frame, its steering-wheels, and driving' mechanism, a cutter-frame attached to the main frame in advance of the wheels,said frame having pulleys at its corners, an endless cutter guided on and running over said pulleys, and means for driving said cutter comprising fixed and movable friction-pulleys, the shaft and gearing for driving said friction-pulleys from the ICO IIO

I np main driving-shaft on the frame in rearof the steering-Wheels, substantially as described.

6. The combination of the main frame, the

' steering-axle, the main axle journaled on the ported on said frame comprising a series of pulleys and an endless-beit cutter running thereover, fixed and movable friction-pulleys for driving said belt, and a shaft driven from the main shaft and carrying one of the said friction-pulleys driving the b61i'J-O11ht1',S11b-" stantially as described. I a

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 'my own I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses. v

JACOB DOWNING.

In presenee of WALTER S. WIKOFF, JOHN A. MOINTYRE. 

